One Year of Love
by FicletMistress
Summary: Many things can happen in a year, but who knew that the trigger would be something as simple as a lonely birthday at a bar? An extra cherry always adds some cheer. Akuroku, Collab with Mitsuru Aki!
1. October

**HAPPY NEW YEAR! ****To everyone who left me a kind review on my stories and who didn't get a response, please forgive me. OTL**

**So, who here has read The Merits of a College Education, by MitsuruAki? Or anything by her? Well, if you haven't, GO READ IT NOW, for this is a collab between the two of us. (it was the only way to escape her wrath, you see. ;D)**

**Disclaimer: We own nothing pertaining to Kingdom Hearts, or the title conveniently borrowed from Queen.**

**October**

"What'll it be kid? Sprite?" Axel eyed the blond who had sat down at the bar. He wondered how the kid had gotten into the night club at all; he looked like he was in high school.

The comment was returned with a glare. "I'm old enough to drink alcohol. Give me something with vodka."

Axel figured he probably should have carded the self-acclaimed adult, but if he couldn't handle it, it wouldn't be Axel's job to kick him out. He mixed some fruit juice with vodka and set it in front of the blond, who sipped it almost cautiously. Axel snorted when the kid winced dramatically and nearly spat out the drink. "If you can't stand it, why order it?"

"Aren't you supposed to go out drinking when you turn twenty-one?"

"It's your birthday?" Axel looked surprised, but the ridiculous grin remained. "Then where are your friends, who are supposed to be here laughing at your intolerance?" The blond shrugged and the red-head's grin fell slightly. "You're here alone then?"

When the only reply was another shrug, Axel's smile vanished. "I see..." _Nice work, Axel. Way to rub in his face he's spending his birthday by himself. Cute kid like him should be partying on his twenty-first, not moping at a bar._ An idea popped into his head and he moved back to the mixes.

The blond jumped in surprise when his vodka was suddenly replaced with a bright red drink. He looked up to see the bartender smiling brightly. "Shirley temple. Us kids skill like these, you know. I can add an extra cherry if you want for your birthday."

He was given a skeptical look. "You hardly look like a kid. How old are you?

Axel laughed. "Eh, ten, twenty-five, what difference does it make? And for the record, I like at least three cherries in mine," he added, holding up three fingers. "So, what's your name Blondie?"

"Roxas. And I guess I'll take that extra cherry...?"

"Axel." Axel pointed to his temple. "Got it memorized, birthday boy?"

Roxas smiled for the first time that evening. "Yeah, sure thing Axel," he said with a small laugh.

"Happy birthday, kid."

-o-

**Thank you for reading!**


	2. November

**Author's Note:** It feels good to be posting again! And AkuRoku! This is a bit easier than working on a story myself. I'm so glad I bullied FicletMistress into this. XD Ficlet is working on December; she's almost done. And now I present November.

The initial disclaimer is applicable not only to the first chapter, but also to all subsequent ones, including this chapter.

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November

**- - - - - - - - - - -**

It had been awhile since Axel had seen that blond kid…the Shirley Temple birthday boy…what had his name been? Ryan…Roy… The redhead frowned in annoyance, scanning the few motionless patrons scattered among the beat up tables and booths. He'd actually had a decent customer, sober at that, and he couldn't even remember the guy's name.

Reese…Ross...Roxas! That's what it was!

He dried a newly cleaned glass with a satisfied smirk, pleased that his memory hadn't failed him too badly this time. Blonds like that deserved to be remembered.

The bar was almost irritatingly quiet considering the time; it wasn't even midnight yet. Although the weather had been getting progressively colder, with the sky threatening some form of unpleasant precipitation, it didn't mean people couldn't take a walk on the wild side (or through the fickle weather) to get a drink. Or two. Not that he was condoning excessive drinking or anything, but… Axel rolled his eyes at himself. He was a bartender, for crying out loud. He couldn't possibly be _that_ bored.

Okay, yeah he was.

The redhead exhaled heavily, setting the glass in his hands on the polished counter with a thump. _There is definitely a difference, _Axel thought, staring at it with an almost depressed expression, _between 'not busy' and 'dead'._

The creak of the establishment's front door snagged his attention and he looked towards the sound, relieved that the monotony he'd been suffering through his whole shift was about to be broken, if only for a few moments. A strong gust of wind followed the person as they tried to shove the door closed, accompanied by what might have been a little rain. Axel raised an eyebrow. _Getting a little violent out there, isn't it?_

There was a dull thud as the door finally settled in its frame. The newcomer sighed, simultaneously turning towards the bar while pulling the hood of his coat off his hair, and Axel was met with bright blue eyes.

"Hey," said Roxas.

Axel felt a smile pulling at his lips, but he managed to restrain it into an amused smirk. "Having a little trouble with the door there, kid?"

The blond scowled at him, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I'm not a kid. We already discussed this," he muttered, walking towards the bartender and pulling out one of the barstools.

"So we did, Birthday Boy, so we did," Axel said agreeably, leaning on the counter as Roxas sat down. "You here for a drink, or—"

"No," Roxas interrupted, glancing up at the other man. "I'm just waiting out the storm."

Axel nodded, his eyes flickering towards the sign-covered windows. "Finally started raining, huh?"

The blond wrinkled his nose in a way that made him look about three years younger. _And still just as cute,_ Axel thought with a grin.

"More like freezing rain," Roxas was saying, methodically shredding a cocktail napkin into uneven pieces. "It bypassed the snow completely."

"Bummer," Axel commented, straightening up.

Roxas narrowed his eyes at him, plainly wondering if he was being made fun of in some way.

The redhead shrugged. "Maybe the weather's just PMSing. We'll probably have snow by Christmas."

"Yeah…"

The two descended into silence, but somehow…despite the same lack of sound as before, it just didn't feel as suffocating to Axel. It was…almost comfortable. He liked it. Time seemed to move a little faster with Roxas there, even if he was only sitting on a stool, ignoring Axel, and ripping apart recycled paper.

Green eyes snapped onto the blond's form as he rose from his position, the rustle of his coat and jeans remarkably loud after almost twenty minutes of quiet.

"Going to brave Mother Nature a second time?" Axel asked, watching the blond pull his hood back up.

Roxas nodded. "It should have settled down by now. And I don't have too far to go, anyway."

"Definitely a plus," the bartender agreed, watching Roxas head across the floor to the entrance. "And hey…you can stop by anytime, you know. Not just when the weather sucks."

The twenty-one year old turned back to the bar and its keeper, his blue eyes evaluating the other man. "I know," he said.

Axel smirked. "Well…see you around then, Roxas."

A brief flash of surprise crossed Roxas's face before it vanished, a small smile taking its place. "Bye Axel."

The door opened, revealing that the weather had calmed somewhat, and closed.

The redhead stared for several seconds at the small mountain of napkin scraps left where Roxas had been sitting. In one smooth motion, he brushed the tiny pieces into the palm of one hand and tossed them in the trash.

He'd be back.

**Author's Note:** So, how was it? Please leave us a lovely review and tell us what you think, not just a story alert! We would really like to hear your thoughts and opinions on this. Ficlet should have December up by the end of January at the latest!


	3. December

**Alright, it's a shorter author's note this time, I promise. ._.; sorry about the last one! At any rate, sorry for taking so dang long to get this up. Too many attempts to start it, then once I finished it, I became obsessive with editing. But no more! Thank you to Mayfall, Mitsuru, and Hannah for editing help!**

December

Axel hated the holidays. Or, perhaps not the holidays themselves as much as the people that hung around Seventh Heaven during those "bright and magical days'. Those particular people varied between celebrating and sulking, but no matter what their intention was, they always got drunk.

It was on days when the crowd was extra rowdy that Axel appreciated having Roxas around. Just as he had hoped, the blond came back. He could be found at the bar at least three days a week, sitting in his normal seat at the bar, chatting happily (and soberly) with Axel.

But the closer it came to Christmas, the less Axel saw of Roxas. The college student had finals coming up, and he was forced to lock himself in the library and study. Axel was lucky to see him on weekends; during the rest of the week when Roxas wasn't around, Axel was significantly grouchier.

The final week leading up to the big day was always the most stressful. The shoppers needed a drink to relieve the stress. The loners felt the need to drown themselves in alcohol until they didn't know what time of year it was. Not to mention everyone found it necessary to flirt with the man who gave them alcohol, which, with, the redhead's already sour mood, caused him to nearly hit one poor drunken soul who had dared to try to catch him under the decorative mistletoe.

But the worst aspect of that week was the lack of Roxas. The blond didn't have time to merely poke his head in and say "hi" on his way home. It took a considerable amount of will for Axel to convince himself that Roxas was busy with his studies and not spending time with his other friends instead of visiting the overworked barman.

It wasn't until the twenty-third that Roxas was finally freed from his exams. It was dark and freezing when the blond slipped through the door of Seventh Heaven, where he found himself stuck in the largest crowd he had ever seen at the bar. The stench of alcohol and smoke nearly overwhelmed him. Regardless, he began weaving and occasionally shoving his way through the drunken crowd as snatches of conversations floated by his ears.

"And I _still_ don't know what to get her!"

"-was the last one on the shelf-"

"Another year spent at the bar…"

"Cheers, lads!"

"Old Jim's having another go at the barman. Poor guy's too drunk to even realize!"

At last Roxas reached the bar, only to discover there were no empty spots. Lovely. He'd have to stand around until someone left, which could easily mean a couple of minutes or a couple of hours. Roxas inched his way towards Axel's usual post, ducking under someone's arm just in time to see a man lean toward the redhead with a flirtatious grin. He heard something that sounded like "fire-head" before Axel turned with a look of rage, ready to bite the offender's head off. To the man's luck, however, a hand suddenly reached over the counter and covered Axel's mouth, cutting off any shouting or foul language.

"Yo, isn't there somewhere else you should be?" Roxas recognized the speaker as Reno, Axel's twin-like cousin and new bouncer who had started working just a week earlier. "Maybe home, wrapping presents for your wife?"

Roxas was sure that he'd never seen a man break down so quickly. "You're right!" the man cried, eyes welling up with tears. "I should be… she's… she's so good to me…. I don't deserve her!" The drunk pulled Reno into a suffocating hug and continued to bawl into his shoulder. The bouncer chuckled and patted his back. "It's okay, yo. We'll just get you home."

Out of the corner of his eye, Roxas saw the other bouncer, Rude, adjust his sunglasses uncomfortably. "I'll go call a cab," Rude said, quietly, before moving towards the back.

While Reno helped the drunkard to the street, Roxas saw his chance. Quickly he slipped onto the previously occupied stool and tapped his finger on the counter. "Hey. Fire Head."

"Fire-Head", who had long since turned his back on the crowd to fill an order, spun around and slammed his palm on the counter. "For the last fricken time-!" When he saw who it was he quickly pulled his hand back, looking thoroughly embarrassed. "Oh, Roxas…" Well, this was awkward. "Uh, good to see you again. Your tests go okay?"

"I think so, but I won't really know for a week or so." Roxas couldn't help but chuckle a little. "It seems you've kept busy without me around, it seems."

"You're telling me!" Axel exclaimed, leaning on the counter and running a hand through his hair. "It just keeps getting busier and busier in here! I swear, if someone calls my name one more time..."

"Axel!" The redhead winced at the call from his coworker, Leon. "There are three customers trying to get your attention. Quit flirting and get back to work!"

Axel straightened and glared back at the brunet. "Well excuse me for wanting five seconds to breathe!" He sighed and mumbled a soft apology to Roxas before shuffling away.

Roxas watched him attend the rowdy customers with a frown. He was just causing more stress by being there, wasn't he? Axel didn't need more people to handle. With a final nod, Roxas slipped a small, poorly wrapped package from his coat pocket, set it on the counter, and slid off his stool to head in the direction of the door.

Axel looked back to where Roxas had been just in time to hear the tinkle of the bell above the door. When he realized that Roxas had already left, he visibly drooped. The barman grabbed a cloth to wipe down the open counter space when he caught sight of the little package. Curious, he picked it up to find his name scrawled across the top, with a small "From Roxas" scribbled beneath it. For the first time that week, a small smile spread across Axel's face.

"Axel."

The sound of his boss's voice made Axel jump, and he spun around to find Tifa standing right behind him.

"You'll be working late tomorrow night. Get out of here and go do something so you stop snapping at all my customers."

Not one to look at gift horse in the mouth, Axel grabbed his coat and bolted for the door.

Tifa laughed. Lately she had been suspecting something between those two.

"Roxas!"

Roxas turned at the call of his name. "Axel?" He somewhat reluctantly came to a stop on the sidewalk to let the older man catch up with him. He really hadn't intended for Axel to catch him in the gift-giving process. "I thought you were working."

Axel came to a halt a few feet behind and leaned on his knees, panting. "I was… Tifa let me off early," he gasped out. "You… left this for me?"

Roxas felt a small blush rise in his cheeks when Axel held up a familiar present. "Oh, yeah… I did…It's not really anything. I just saw it and thought…. You haven't opened it yet?"

"Should I?"

When Roxas only shrugged, Axel pulled off the paper to find a bright red scarf. Roxas felt the color in his cheeks darken just a little more. "Like I said, it isn't much. I just saw it and it reminded me of how much you hated the cold and how it's been so cold lately, so… yeah…"

Axel wrapped the scarf around his neck before smiling warmly at the college student a warm smile. "Thank you, Rox. It's perfect." He scratched the back of his head, chuckling awkwardly. "I, uh, didn't get you anything, but…"

Roxas shook his head. "I wasn't expecting you to, you know."

"I know, I know!" Axel said quickly, blushing and looking at the ground. "But I still want to do something for you. Would… you want to do dinner or something sometime?"

Axel dared to glance back at Roxas in time to see his lips quirk up in a hopeful smile. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"You'll be around tomorrow? I'll be working, but…" Axel was trying not to sound too excited.

Roxas, however, shook his head sadly. "I'm flying out tomorrow to visit my family, as long as the snow doesn't close the airport," he said, looking amused as he kicked the thin layer of snow on the street.

Axel did his best to keep the smirk from his face. It seemed that Roxas had yet to become accustomed to unpredictable winters. "Well, you're welcome over at Seventh Heaven if things don't go as planned. It shouldn't be too busy tomorrow."

"I'll keep that in mind," Roxas said, pulling his coat collar a little tighter around his neck. "Well, I should get home and pack. Merry Christmas, Axel!"

Axel was quiet for a moment as he stared at Roxas, unreadable thoughts lingering behind those eyes. He reached out a hand, hesitating, before ruffling Roxas's hair. "Merry Christmas, Rox," he muttered, offering a soft smile before turning and heading towards his own apartment, hands clutching the ends of the scarf tightly.

The next morning, Axel couldn't think of a time he had ever been so glad to dig his car out from a fresh snow bank.

-o-

**I can't believe I doubled the length of November. ._.; how long is my next one going to have to be? Oh dear...**

**Thank you for reading!**


	4. January

**Author's Note:** Cranked this out in six hours after realizing in a panic that I had about 9 days until the end of February. Oops…*shifty eyes* Also working on Merits and thinking about Catch Me. I'm spending most of my time looking for a job (damn failing economy), and my new professors think it's essential that I buy 13 books for 5 classes and spend 6 hours a day reading them. Right. Okay. I'm going to go poke at Leon in Merits now.

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January

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Axel _loved_ New Years.

"I'm going to drop forty pounds by March first!"

"I swear I'll help my wife with the kids more!"

"Hear, hear!"

"I'm going to cut back on my drinking!"

"Jim," Reno said dryly, leaning on the counter with an amused smirk. "New Years resolutions are supposed to be somewhat achievable, ya know?"

"Are you sayin' you don't got any faith in me, Reno?"

January. New Years. Early in the morning. The only time of the year where making promises that inevitably ended up broken was not only acceptable but actually encouraged.

"Weeeeeeeell, Jim," Axel drawled as he mixed his current order. "I seem to remember you making an _obscenely _similar resolution last year…and look where you are now."

The bar's older patrons burst into loud guffaws and jeering at the memory, making Axel grin at the unfortunate Jim.

"Sorry, yo," Reno said with faux disappointment, rising from his position with an almost cat-like stretch. "Gonna hafta do better than _that_."

The noise level in the bar soared as arguments broke out over the likelihood of Jim keeping his resolution this year. Axel rolled his eyes at how ridiculous the whole thing was. Jim had been a regular here since Axel first got the job.

"Hey," a voice said right next to Axel's ear, louder than usual in an effort to be heard over the crowd and with the added bonus of scaring the daylights out of the redhead.

His boss gazed unconcernedly back at him when he turned to glare at whomever had spoken. "Good god, Tifa, do you have to do that?"

She ignored the question with a smile that plainly said 'yes, life just wouldn't be the same if I didn't do that to you once in a while' and instead answered with an inquiry of her own. "Where's your little blond friend, Axel? Is he coming tonight?"

"No, Tifa, I'm not giving you his number," Axel said dryly.

She swatted his arm. "That's not what I meant! I just want to know if he'll be stopping by tonight."

Axel gave her an odd look as he reached for a clean glass. "Why?"

Tifa gave a sigh that all women use when they can't believe men haven't used their inherent psychic abilities to read the oh-so-_obvious_ direction their current conversation is supposed to be taking.

"What?" Axel asked, frowning at her. "Did I miss something important in the last three seconds of our not-yet-really-but-could-possibly-be-a conversation?"

She pursed her lips at him and crossed her arms. "I just think he's good for you, is all. I hope he drops by."

"What do you mean he's 'good for me'?" the redhead asked incredulously. "He's not an apple or something; I'm not going to eat him."

Reno slipped past them with a devious smirk on his face. "You may change your mind about that later."

Axel snatched up the drying towel, turned, and snapped it viciously across the seat of Reno's pants. Reno yelped in indignation, spinning around with a wide-eyed, 'oh-_no-you-didn't_' expression on his face.

"The hell was that for? That shit _smarts,_ yo!"

"Shut up and mind your own business, Reno."

Reno scowled darkly at his coworker, ice blue eyes narrowing, but Tifa held up a commanding hand.

"Down, boys. You can duke that out later. Reno, don't make suggestive remarks about underage customers—"

"Roxas is twenty-one," Axel said pointedly, beginning to feel irritated for some _unknown_ reason.

"—and Axel, don't ask Reno to do anything you know perfectly well he's not capable of," the dark-haired woman continued as though Axel hadn't spoken, meeting both sets of eyes firmly.

"Seriously, man," Reno complained, ruefully rubbing the offended area. "That was uncalled for." He took a couple swift steps forward to invade Axel's personal space, backing the wary, slightly taller man up a couple steps. There was a teasing grin on Reno's features as he leaned forward, up close and personal, his face mere inches from the other redhead's. "If my ass is gonna hurt, there at least ought to be some sort of pleasure involved in causing the pain, don't you think?" The fingertips of Reno's right hand settled on Axel's chest and _pushed,_ shoving his victim up against the counter as the bartender sputtered a disjointed response to that unanticipated comment.

Reno smirked at Axel with his half-lidded look that screamed 'I just totally owned you' and moved away, tossing his head to move his bangs out of his eyes. Catcalls and whistles rang throughout the room from those who had witnessed the exchange and Axel covered his face with a hand. _Why did Tifa hire Reno again?_

"And don't ever take advantage of me ever again!" Reno added melodramatically while feigning hurt and a weepy disposition, sniffling shakily and wiping away imaginary tears.

Tifa sighed as she beat back a grin, trying not to look as amused as she obviously was. "Reno—"

"Axel's not underage; he's fair game!" Reno called over his shoulder, eyes glittering with mischief as he looked back at them on his way to his partner, who was standing by the door. Rude just shook his head in resignation, not bothering to hide the smirk visible on his face even with the concealing sunglasses he insisted on wearing.

Damn them both, really.

Axel glared at Tifa's form next to him, shaking with repressed giggles as she turned her bright eyes on him. "You know what, Tifa? Don't say anything. Just don't."

She burst out laughing, smacking one palm on the counter as she doubled over with an arm across her stomach. "My god, Axel…the expression on your face…"

The redhead rolled his eyes and turned back to the grinning faces of the customers. Including a certain blue-eyed blond.

Axel did a double-take as he noticed Roxas sitting in front of him, just watching him with one of the most entertained smirks he'd ever seen before in his life. "When did you get here?"

Roxas scratched the back of his neck idly. "Oh…somewhere around you defending the honor of my ability to drink alcohol," he said, his face breaking out in a full-fledged smile he tried to block from sight with his hand.

"Uh, yeah…" Axel said uneasily, looking down the bar and pointedly not at Roxas and his smile. "That conversation didn't go quite the way I thought it would."

The blond burst out laughing, throwing his head back and pulling a hand through his unruly hair. "Really? That's all you have to say about that?"

"Well," the redhead said grumpily, his hands moving automatically to make a Shirley Temple, "Reno doesn't usually sexually harass me at work."

Roxas started sniggering, trying to muffle the sound by biting his lip when Axel glared at him. "Sorry," he said.

"No you're not," Axel responded shortly, giving him the evil eye and withholding his newly made drink.

The blond frowned as he noticed this. "Well, okay, no I'm not. But an apology sounds appropriate for some reason. And it was funny. I didn't realize Reno was like that."

Axel raised an eyebrow at him. "Like what? Gay? Because he's actually bi."

Roxas scowled at him. "_No._ Dramatic and forward and stuff. Can I have my drink now?"

The bartender slid it towards the college student, staring at Roxas. "You need to spend more time here," he said, shaking his head disbelievingly. "Reno is _always_ like that."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Roxas deadpanned, sipping at his drink and eyeing Axel at the same time. "Me spending more time here, I mean."

Axel shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that," he said honestly.

Roxas stared at him blankly for a few seconds, before blinking rapidly. "Uh, I—"

The redhead propped his elbows on the counter and rested his chin on his intertwined fingers innocently. "I just get so lonely here without you, Roxas. It breaks my heart," he continued solemnly, fluttering his eyelashes for full effect.

Deep blue eyes rolled at the words. "I can see Reno's not the only drama queen here."

"Well, I can see you're just determined to not take me seriously tonight," Axel said snootily, straightening back up and putting a hand on his hip. "This relationship just isn't going to work out between us, Roxie."

A twitch started near Roxas's right eye. "_Roxie? _What _relationship_?"

Axel gasped exaggeratedly. "Roxas Insert-Middle-Name-Here Whatever-Your-Last-Name-Is, how can you say that?"

Roxas started laughing again at the sheer stupidity of that name, bringing up both hands to completely hide his face from view. He peered at Axel over the top of his fingers, who was smirking in satisfaction as he started fulfilling the orders of other customers.

"Are you always like this?" he questioned, his blue eyes shining with leftover traces of hilarity.

"Nah," Axel disagreed, sliding a drink down the bar to a brunette woman at the end. "Only on New Years."

Roxas snorted. "I find that hard to believe."

"Am I really that untrustworthy?" the bartender asked in mock resentment. "Because I made a New Years resolution to be more honest."

Roxas observed him critically. "Do you actually plan on _keeping _that resolution?"

The redhead paused in the process of putting ice in a glass, thinking. "Well, how long am I expected to keep that promise for? Because while I am amazing and wonderful, I also have a different definition for being perfect—"

"Yeah, okay, that's going to fail," Roxas interrupted, finishing the last of his drink.

"Well what about you, _Roxie_. Made your resolution yet?"

"No…I don't make resolutions. I don't see the point. And don't call me that."

Axel made a face at him. "The point is to see who can tell the biggest tale and stick by it the longest, of course."

"You know," Roxas said with mock thoughtfulness, "somehow I _don't _think that's what they're for."

"Pshaw, what do you know," Axel said waving a hand dismissively. "HEY!" he shouted over the clamor of people talking excitedly and the small televisions displaying the excited crowds gathered at a public square partying at two-thirty in the morning somewhere.

"Axel, what are you doing?" Roxas asked a little nervously, noticing how the volume of the bar lowered dramatically at the redhead's demand for attention. Even Tifa was watching him, although that was most likely to make sure he didn't do anything too outrageous.

Axel ignored him. "Roxas here—" he began, reaching forward and ruffling the blond's hair. Roxas jerked away with a glare, almost toppling off his stool. "—hasn't made his New Years resolution yet. We gotta help him, you guys!"

There was an outcry of surprise and disbelief.

"Already into the new year and you don't have a resolution yet? That's horrible!" A brown-eyed girl with short dark hair exclaimed. "We will get you a resolution if it's the last thing we do!"

"You should get a girlfriend!"

"Put away more of your money in a savings account!"

"Become famous!"

Roxas narrowed his eyes at Axel. "Did you have to ask the whole bar, Axel?" he asked irritably, drumming his fingers on the counter.

"Naturally," Axel replied, looking around for another glass. "We like you here Rox; we'll help you out."

"I don't need help if I _don't make resolutions_," Roxas hissed angrily, slamming his empty glass in front of Axel.

"I have an idea!" Reno said loudly, fighting through the crowd to get to Axel and Roxas.

"NO," the bartender said automatically, leveling Reno with a glare. "Whatever it is, no."

Reno, as he usually did, ignored him. He leaned on the counter next to Roxas and grinned at him. "You should spend more time here with us, Roxie!"

"Don't call me that!"

"That," Axel said, pointing at the other redhead, "is a brilliant idea."

"Of course it is," Reno said easily. "Come by more often; be a regular, yo. Axel gets mean when you're not around."

"I do not," Axel snapped, glaring at the long-haired redhead. "Get lost, Reno."

"See what I mean?" Reno said, sighing exaggeratedly. "It's horrible. He's like this all the time."

"Lies. Blasphemy and lies," Axel insisted, giving Reno a dirty look. "Go do your job, you bum."

The bouncer glared at Axel. "I'm not a bum!" He turned around to locate Rude. "Yo Rude! Am I a bum?"

Roxas watched the bouncer leave, then glanced back at the bartender. "You two really don't get along, do you?"

Axel gave a noncommittal shrug of his shoulders. "Eh. The man drives me insane. All the time. That's all."

"Uh huh, so—"

"You want another drink, Rox?"

"Sure, whatever."

"Coming right up, then."

"So…I was wondering…"

Axel glanced up at the blond as he mixed soda with grenadine syrup, noting the hesitant expression on the other man's face. "What's up?"

"Uh…are…are we still on for that…dinner…lunch…thing?" Roxas asked, not sure what to call it, but still wanting a definite answer.

The redhead gave Roxas a searching look as he opened a new jar of cherries. "Well, yeah…" he said slowly, carefully evaluating the blond's expression. "If you still want to, or whatever. We don't have to if you don't want to, or—"

"No, I just wanted to make sure. It's been over a week, and we never really said anything more on the matter, so…okay. Whatever."

"Yeah."

"Alright. Just checking."

"Okay."

There was a brief silence between them as Axel handed over the new drink, and the hour hand on the clock creeped steadily towards three in the morning. Roxas fiddled with a cherry stem while Axel worked on other orders, Tifa helping him at the other end of the counter.

"Can I have your number?"

Axel paused and gradually raised questioning green eyes to meet Roxas's intense gaze. "Uh, what?" he asked eloquently.

"Your phone number," Roxas clarified with a hint of impatience. "You know, so I can call you and we can set that up. Because I can't be here all the time—"

"You want my phone number?" Axel repeated, a grin spreading over his face.

Roxas flushed at the expression on the redhead's face. "I'm just trying to—I'm not—look, I just need a way to—"

The grin widened. "You just need what, Rox?"

"_I am not hitting on you!_" Roxas snarled in response, making several other patrons at the bar turn to look at them with intrigued expressions. "I need a way to contact you! What if something comes up and I have to cancel?"

"You wouldn't cancel on me, Roxas," Axel said sweetly, crossing his arms and resting them on the counter. "You just want an excuse to talk to me outside of work, don't you? Do you miss me during the day?"

The blond glowered at him, still with a pink tinge on his cheeks, and threw himself off the barstool. "You're being an asshole. I don't know why you have to be such a pain in the ass about this over a stupid number, but—"

Axel lunged across the counter and grabbed Roxas by a wrist to keep him from storming off, his other hand scrambling for the sharpie he kept in his pocket for labeling bottles. He used the blond's hand to keep a napkin from moving around as he scribbled his number onto it, pretending not to notice any objections from the hand's owner. Or how their palms were roughly the same size, although Roxas's fingers weren't quite as long. _It's all relative somehow, I'm sure._

"Here," he said when he was done, forcing the napkin into Roxas's resistant fingers. "That's my cell number, okay? You can call it whenever, doesn't matter what time."

Roxas continued to glare at him, but curled the paper into a fist. "Whatever. I'll see you later or whenever."

Axel smiled cheerfully at the blond as he stalked to the door, the act made a little bit difficult by the sheer number of people still in the bar.

"Roxas!" Axel called as the twenty-one year old reached the door, making him pause and look back over his shoulder. The redhead held up his right hand, extending his thumb and pinky finger to his ear and mouth, respectively. "Call me!" he mouthed, unable to stop another grin from taking over his facial features.

Roxas narrowed his eyes, seemingly debating whether or not to give Axel an incredibly rude hand gesture. Instead, he just yanked open the door, vanished through it, and slammed it after him.

Oh yes, Axel _loved_ New Years.

**Author's Notes:** REVIEW! It makes us write faster. It really does. And we like hearing your ideas and stuff. This is about 1200 words longer than December. I'm sorry FicletMistress. Axel just took over and has no self-control. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.


	5. February

**I accept all rotten fruit and vegetables thrown in my direction. I will keep this short, as I DO NOT DESERVE THIS SPACE. Life and school and whatnot got busy. I AM SORRY. Now, if you excuse me, I need to go borrow Reno 2's emo corner. FORGIVE ME, MITSURU! ;O; It didn't reach the word limit! I just couldn't do it. *emocorners***

**Disclaimer: The usual~**

Pink.

Roxas was sure he had never seen so much Pink in his life. It didn't matter that he thought this every year when Valentines Day approached; he was sure this year would be the absolute epitome of Pink. His apartment building, the stores, the bus stops, everything he knew was slowly morphing into that sappy shade of off red. Even a couple of his professors had handed out assignments on pink paper. Had he not had such high levels of inertia (or "laziness" as his brother so bluntly put it), Roxas would have petitioned to ban Valentines Day from the face of the earth.

That, or he would have torn down the little pink homemade hearts he saw everywhere. At least he had defaced a few that had been in reach.

It were times like these that he was glad that he spent his time in a bar run almost entirely by men—even if they were gay (whoops, did he say that? Oh well, he was pretty sure of it by this point). Even if the owner was female, those men would only permit a certain degree of traditional sappy decorations in their work place. Because of this, Seventh Heaven became Roxas's sanctuary from the Pink and those stupid little naked angels hanging everywhere.

But perhaps it wasn't the color or even the holiday that irked him, he mused to himself one day as he sat in the back of a bus on his way home from classes. Perhaps it was merely the memories associated with the holiday. After all, who could forget how he and Sora had competed to see who would be the valentine of Kairi, their childhood friend and Sora's old crush. Roxas, who had merely been involved because he couldn't turn down a challenge from his brother, had practically cursed the poor girl's ears off when she turned them both down and broke Sora's heart. Or maybe it was the memory of that year when silly yet rather stalker-ish love notes began appearing in his notebooks and textbooks. He had his suspicions as to who it was, but the perpetrator had never been found.

Suddenly, the bus hit a bump, abruptly jarring Roxas from his memories and dislodging a paper cupid on a string from the ceiling, causing it to fall right into the blond's lap. He scowled. No, it was definitely the holiday he hated.

Thoroughly disgusted, Roxas ditched the bus at the first chance he got. He was willing to walk the last five blocks or so if it meant no more cardboard cut-outs.

"Ohehmgee, I'm so nervous for tomorrow! Do you think he'll read my letter?"

"What are you talking about? He's totally into you! You just have to make the first move!"

Roxas tried not to snicker as he passed the pack of high school girls crowded around the bus stop. He remembered those awkward days of high school, where hormone-driven teens ran about professing their so called "love" for one another while all hyped up on candy.

Speaking of which... Roxas paused mid-step, a grin slowly forming as a though crossed his mind. He was remembering that simple equation that he and his friend, Hayner, had developed, that made Valentines Day worth living through:

Government Holiday + Hormones + Sappy = Cheap Valentines Day themed chocolate.

And chocolate was most definitely one of Roxas's weaknesses. Without wasting another second, he turned on his heel and hurried into Moogle Mart behind him.

A few minutes later he emerged from the store with a shopping bag in one hand and a candy bar in the other. It truly was amazing how much brighter the day seemed with the taste of chocolate on his tongue.

"Yeah? Well up yours!"

Then again, it didn't solve every problem. With a sigh, Roxas rewrapped his treat and made his way over to the soon-to-be fight between the town's well known rivals. He really was in no mood to deal with this...

"What did he do this time, Hayner?"

The blond in question turned, the scowl on his face brightening just slightly at the sight of his friend. "Roxas! Jerkface here first tripped me, and then he thinks he can take my chocolate!" Hayner jabbed a finger in the direction of a boy across from him, who was grinning out from under a beanie hat and was dangling a bag over his head.

Roxas, being the wonderful friend that he was, didn't resist the urge to roll his eyes. Weren't they getting a bit old for this? True, stolen chocolate was no laughing matter, but it seemed as though the squabbles between the infamous rivals were becoming more trivial by the day. "You asked for it back?"

"Ask him? I would have, but then he goes and insults me! Unprovoked, I swear!" Hayner shrugged, suddenly adopting a rather arrogant attitude. "Even if he's depressed over the fact that no one's gonna give him chocolate tomorrow, that doesn't-"

"So this is about _valentines_, is it?" Seifer suddenly cut in, his smirk growing tenfold. "Oh, Chicken Wuss, I'm not envious in the slightest about the valentines you get every year from your 'girlfriend' and your mother. But, of course, I wouldn't know what it's like to be jealous, considering I receive more chocolate in the period of an hour than you've got in this here bag."

"Then give it back!" Hayner snarled, his hands clenching into fists.

"You know," interjected a new voice suddenly, surprising Roxas and causing him to step back against something rather tall and skinny, "this is pathetic. You two are obviously gay for each other. So just shut up already and go find a room."

Silence. The three blonds stared up at straight-faced Axel with a mix of shock, disbelief, and, in two cases, horror on their faces.

"You're so gay that _I'm_ jealous!" The redhead sighed and placed a hand on Roxas's shoulder. "In fact, it rubs me the wrong way, just how envious I am. So we'll just leave you two lovebirds be in peace!" With that he ran, pulling Roxas along behind him by the wrist.

A couple of blocks away, Axel dropped the shopping bag he'd been somehow carrying and collapsed onto a bench, unable to hold back his laughter. Roxas tried to suppress his own smirk as he watched the older man roll about and draw many stares from the nearby pedestrians.

"Do you have _any_ idea what you just did?" Roxas demanded once Axel had caught his breath.

"I, aha, I've opened their eyes to the truth!" Axel exclaimed, wiping a stray tear from his eye. "I've started them on the road of a beautiful relationship!"

Roxas leaned over the back of the bench and stared down at the still-giggling man. "I've gone to school with those two since I was little. They see each other, they fight. Hayner, being the idiot he can be, didn't even realize that Seifer went to school here when he decided to go to the same college I did."

"Are you so sure of that?" Axel interrupted, putting his arms under his head for support.

"Am I sure of what? That Hayner's an idiot?"

The redhead finally stopped his chuckling and shook his head. "No, that he didn't know. Wouldn't you pay attention to where your arch nemesis went to school so you could get far, far away from him?" Axel reached up and poked the tip of Roxas's nose with an accusing finger. "Unless you were secretly in love with this enemy and were willing to fight them forever if it meant you could follow them to the ends of the earth!"

Roxas rolled his eyes and batted away Axel's hand. "You're delusional. They fight. Period. I would know if Hayner had any feeling other than hatred for Seifer. You can read him like a book." He raised an eyebrow when Axel suddenly chuckled, but the redhead didn't elaborate.

"Doesn't mean he knows it yet. My guess is that your friend has no clue why he wants to fight that other guy so badly. That, or he's a masochist."

"You're insane."

"So I've been told. But I work at a bar. Trust me, Rox, I know these things. Commit it to memory," Axel added, tapping his temple in emphasis.

Roxas sighed in defeat. "We'll just have to see, though I still think you're bull goose loony."

"Been reading Cuckoo's Nest?"

"Lit class. So, what where you doing before you joined our joyful conversation?" Roxas asked, moving around the bench to poke the abandoned shopping bag on the ground.

Axel straightened up to give the blond room to sit. "I got a distressed call from Tifa saying that the bar wasn't decorated enough for her liking, something about never leaving Reno and Rude in charge of that again, and that I had to go shopping. Horrible, right? But then I saw you, my little blond angel, and decided that this errand wasn't quite so horrible. But enough about _me_. What are you doing with all that chocolate there? Got big plans to give it to someone special?"

Roxas laughed. "Are you kidding me? Chocolate is for eating. It's the best way to spend Valentines Day, you know."

Green eyes lit up, just a little bit. "So then, you don't have any big plans for tomorrow? Think you might come by the bar and say hi?"

Roxas missed the excited look on the other's face, however, as his gaze was fixed on the ground. "I would, but a friend begged me to go to some Valentines Day dance. Just as friends, though!" he added quickly, looking back to Axel. "Seriously, I hate these kinds of things, but I thought she was going to either cry or attack me, and her friends had me practically surrounded, and she said she just needed a friend, and-"

Roxas's babbling was suddenly cut off by Axel's laughter, and the blond glared at him, embarrassed. "Geeze, Rox! You sound like you're in denial or something!" He waved away the fist that collided with his arm as he tried to catch his breath. "Oh, you crack me up... don't worry, I believe you! Don't hit me again! Hoo-ee..." Axel sighed, finally under control again. "You know, you make it sound like you really don't like Valentines Day."

"Dislike is an understatement," Roxas said, flatly. "I hate all this cheesy stuff."

"Whaaaaaat?" Axel clutched his hands over his heart. "You mean you hate the romance, the decorations, and the adorable gushy-gushy confessions of love that fill the air?"

Roxas looked ready to hit him again.

"Well! This must be remedied!" Axel declared, pulling his shopping bag up onto his lap. "Close your eyes and hold out your hand—and no peeking!"

Roxas gave Axel one last skeptical look before doing as he was told. He heard the rustle of plastic as Axel dug through the bag, and after a moment, something small plopped into his outstretched palm. He opened his eyes to see a chocolate sweet wrapped in red foil.

"It's a chocolate kiss, just for you!" Axel said with a huge grin on his face. "See? Valentines Day isn't all that bad, is it?"

Roxas couldn't help but chuckle, just a little. "Okay, you win I guess. Just this time, though, since I get more chocolate for agreeing."

Axel's grin, however, continued to grow. Roxas—as any normal person would—felt a little nervous.

"And just so you know, in certain places, it's tradition for the person who receives chocolate on Valentines Day to give something in return to the giver one month later, on White Day. So I like to think you're rather entitled now." He looked so proud of himself for conning the younger boy.

Roxas frowned to himself. He didn't see that particular catch coming. However...

Suddenly an idea popped into his mind. "What if I just give you something back right now?" There was a hint of a grin at the corners of his mouth.

"Maybe... but only if it's one of your chocolate kisses."

"Fine, fine." Roxas turned and began digging through his own bag. "Close your eyes and hold out your hand. No peeking."

Axel did so without hesitation and Roxas pulled out his candy bar from earlier and broke off a piece. He waited for a moment, turning the little square over in his fingers and taking a deep breath. Then, just as Axel was beginning to grow impatient, he popped the chocolate in his mouth and tugged Axel's outstretched hand towards him. The unsuspecting redhead tipped forward just enough for Roxas to reach up and press a soft, chocolate kiss to Axel's lips. Green eyes shot open in shock, but before Axel could get his senses straight, Roxas fled with a and both shopping bags in tow.

Axel could only stare after him, mouth opening and closing, bearing a close resemblance to a fish.

Later, after Axel finally got himself to work, he felt his pocket vibrate, signaling a new text message.

-OH MY FREAKING GOD, YOU WERE RIGHT ABOUT HAYNER AND SIFER-

-o-

Please review, so that Mitsuru might right March? I love you all, and again, SORRY!


	6. March

Author's Note: Yeah, I took forever. Seifer and Hayner elbowed their way in, and then I wasn't really in a writing mood until recently. Sorry, and May hopefully won't take as long.

xxxxxxx

March

xxxxxxx

March was one of those odd, lazy months.

Not that Axel didn't like March, per se, it was just…well…nothing really happened in March. Sure, some people made a big thing about St. Patrick's Day, but really, that was just another excuse for people to drink and blame their stupid stunts on the mass amounts of alcohol they consumed. And then of course, there was White Day, but any respectable guy with a respectable girl sure as hell didn't spend the holiday in a bar.

All in all, March was a slow month. Unless, of course, you had a particularly interesting source of entertainment. Axel smirked.

"Holy Jenova, Chickenwuss, would you shut up?"

"Hey, I listen to you complain all the time about stupid shit; I'm trying to tell you about what a crappy day I've had! So listen!"

"And why would I want to listen to that?"

A heavy thud came from the end of the bar and Axel's smirk widened.

"Ow, goddamit, Hayner—"

Hayner simply raised his voice. "So, anyway, I decided the best thing to do would be to just go talk to him, because he might be the professor, but even he can't be that much of a jerk…"

Axel pulled his attention from the Odd Couple as Tifa came out of the backroom, writing something on a notepad with her cell phone tucked between her shoulder and her ear.

"—come by. You need to spend more time with people." She paused for half a second as the person on the other end started a response.

Axel felt a pang of sympathy for whoever it was. He knew by now that it was just better to let Tifa talk when she was determined like this; any rebuttals were just wasted breaths.

"—think you'd like it here, and yes," Tifa said, with a hint of grumpiness to her voice, "I took all the Valentine decorations down, I don't know what you have against them—"

A snort off to their left mirrored Axel's thoughts exactly, and the redhead turned to look at Leon, who was cleaning a glass. "They're emasculating, that's what," he said bluntly, making Tifa glare at him.

"Seriously, yo," Reno said in a long-suffering voice, appearing on the other side of the counter. "Couldn't we do something different next year? Like blue or something?"

"Or black?" Axel added innocently.

"So we can mourn for our lost masculine identity?" Leon asked, pulling out a bottle of vodka with a hint of irritation.

Tifa cast them all dirty looks. "What masculine identity?"

All of them stopped what they were doing (or in Reno's case, not doing) to glare at her.

"Oy!" Reno responded with a frown, thoroughly affronted. "It stands to reason that a man in possession of a Y chromosome must be in want of a…uh…wait," he glanced at Axel, "is that how that goes…?"

Axel rolled his eyes. "Almost had it there, Reno."

"Must be in want of a lack of estrogen-fueled females," Leon said, glowering at his boss. "Go away, Tifa."

Tifa just huffed at him and turned, talking to the phone again. "I expect to see you in the next half hour, and if I don't, I will come find you. Or send Yuffie after you. Your choice." She closed her phone with a decisive snap. "Well, that's taken care of, at least."

"Another torture victim?" Axel asked, grabbing a glass for a customer. "Another poor soul who regrets meeting you?"

"Anti-social roommate, actually," Tifa corrected him, tossing her hair over her shoulder. Then she smirked. "Although I guess that amounts to the same, with him."

"Tifa likes to keep her men in line," Reno stage-whispered conspiratorially, talking behind his hand to Axel.

"Damn straight," Tifa replied with a smile, tucking her phone into her apron.

"Well, not straight," Reno pointed out, and he and Tifa nodded agreeably.

Leon rolled his eyes at them and moved away down the bar.

"So…who's straight?" Asked a voice Axel hadn't heard in a while, and he'd be damned if he admitted it, but his heart lifted at the sound.

"What? Straight people?" Reno asked, lifting a hand to his chest and managing to sound horrified and uppity at the same time. "We don't let that sort of riff-raff in here."

"Hey, Roxas," Axel greeted the short blond shaking his head at his redheaded coworker. "How've you been?"

"Alright, I guess," Roxas responded, his eyes determinedly not meeting Axel's. Instead he watched as Reno's partner—what was his name? Rude?—came up behind Reno and dropped an arm on the man's head, making the redhead roll his eyes up to look at him.

Axel nodded, not sure how to go from here. Things had been a little awkward between them since Valentine's Day, with Roxas unwilling to chat but unable to stay away and Axel not knowing where to find the blond so they could talk.

Automatically, Axel slid Roxas his usual Shirley Temple, feeling nervous and slightly twitchy as he watched the blond studiously avoiding his gaze.

What could have become a potentially awkward silence between them never quite had the chance to form when the crash of bar stools toppling caught the attention of everyone in the building. In a flash, Reno and Rude were back to back at the other end of the bar, forcing their way between the Odd Couple.

"Blessed fucking Jenova, Chickenwuss, I already fucking told you—!"

"And I told you I don't fucking give a shit!"

"Hey, hey, that's enough you two," Rude's deep voice cut in firmly, a solid hand on Hayner's chest and the other restraining a tense wrist forcing him to take a couple steps back.

"Tifa's going to castrate you both if you keep destroying her place every time you come by," Reno added seriously, already engaged in a toe-to-toe staring contest with Seifer.

"Can't help it if he's just being his usual self," Hayner said nastily, glaring at Seifer around Rude. "Jackass is his middle name, after all."

"Yeah, because you're all sunshine and roses yourself, dumbass," Seifer sneered, shifting so he could see past Reno's head.

"Hey," Reno said sharply, eyes narrowing as he mimicked Seifer's movement.

Hayner ignored him. "More than you," he shot back, clenching the hand in Rude's grip. "Maybe you should at least pretend you're paying attention instead of acting like you've got someplace to be, and I know you don't. It's fucking rude!"

"I didn't come here to hear you whine like a little girl," Seifer snapped back, face twisted into a disdainful scowl.

Axel glanced at Roxas as the blond shifted uncomfortably in his seat, scowling and visibly debating whether to get involved or not.

Hayner's face colored predictably in anger. "It's not whining, it's venting, you ass! You act like I do this all the time, which I don't!" His eyes flashed as he leveled Seifer with a condescending glare worthy of the other man. "No wonder Fuu's been coming around to talk to me lately!"

Seifer's face showed nothing but irritated confusion. "And what the hell is that supposed to mean, Chickenwuss?"

"You can't even listen to a girl talk about her problems, you retard," Hayner snapped, trying to see around Rude's taller frame. "And you know Fuu, she hardly says anything at all. If you can't even be a good friend, how do you expect to be a good boyfriend?"

Nobody was quite sure what happened after that, except maybe Seifer, but after a few seconds of uproarious confusion, Reno had Seifer pinned to the counter with an arm twisted behind his back, and Hayner was bent over with both hands clutching his face. Rude put a hand on the shorter blond's shoulder before he could recover, keeping himself between Hayner and Reno as he forcibly walked him backwards to the other end of the bar.

"I'm going to go check on Hayner," Roxas muttered, abandoning his spot and heading toward his friend.

"That happen a lot here?" a quiet voice asked.

Axel glanced away from Hayner's argument with Rude to look at the speaker. Another blond—taller, bigger, and obviously older than Roxas—stood casually on the other side of the counter, startling blue eyes watching him calmly for a moment before lowering to the countertop.

Axel eyed the newcomer's spiky, carefully-styled hair with approval before answering, "Only recently."

Blondie nodded, pulled out a barstool, and probably would have sat down if Tifa hadn't come barreling out of the back room.

"Cloud! You showed up!"

"Didn't have much of a choice," Cloud muttered, sliding onto his seat and eyeing her warily.

"You make it sound like a bad thing," Tifa said sweetly, twirling a dishrag in her hand. "Besides, it's good for you to get out and socialize once in a while."

Cloud cast a contemplative look at Seifer.

Tifa scowled. "If you start another fight in my bar, I'll kick you out of the apartment," she said threateningly, stomping off to verbally castrate Seifer.

There was a twitch at the corner of Cloud's mouth that Axel almost missed, making the redhead frown. He recognized that expression; it was almost like…he turned his head to look at Leon, who was in the process of making a drink. That was a Leon look.

He must have looked a second too long, because Leon's gaze cut over to stare at him. "What?"

"I, uh…" Axel glanced at Cloud, who quirked an eyebrow at him, and back to Leon. "Can you serve him for me? I'm going to get some ice for that kid before the swelling gets worse." He tilted his head in Hayner's direction.

Leon gave the blond a onceover and shrugged. "Whatever."

Axel made a quick trip to the storage closet for a clean cloth and then a second stop for ice, nearly running into their other bartender, Zexion, just as he was heading off duty. Zexion nodded goodbye and Axel continued to where the two shorter blonds were sitting in silence.

"Here ya go, kiddo," Axel said, just to be ostentatiously cheerful, dropping his creation on the counter. "Got some ice for ya."

"Don't need ice," Hayner said sulkily.

Axel gave the inflated left side of his face a doubtful look.

"Shut up and put the ice on your face," Roxas said with a glare.

Hayner reluctantly picked up the bundle and shoved it over his eye.

"So, is that always how you two show your love?" Axel asked, ducking a moment later as Roxas threw a balled up napkin at him along with a stern look.

Roxas's friend didn't say anything, just stared resolutely across the bar at Seifer, a slight tick going in his jaw.

"I mean, you've been going out for how long now?" Axel asked, leaning on the counter and watching Hayner with curious eyes.

"Axel, leave it alone," Roxas glowered, scooting forward, his eyes darting between the dirty-blond and the redhead.

"Four weeks," Hayner muttered, not even breaking his stare. "Four freaking weeks, and he's still such a jackass."

Roxas propped his chin in his hand as he followed Axel's example and let the counter hold him up. "What, you were expecting something different?"

"No, but…" Hayner paused and readjusted the ice pack over his eye. "Jenova he's such an ass."

"Axel!" Tifa's voice called over the hubbub of the patrons, and the redhead glanced over to see her hands on her hips. "Get over here and do your job!"

Axel straightened up and saluted. "Yes ma'am!"

Roxas snorted.

Bright green eyes focused on him instead. "I want to talk to you when I get a chance, okay Rox? So stick around for a while."

The blond glanced up at him from under his hair. "I promised my brother I'd be home by one, so…alright. Fine."

Axel nodded, giving him a small smile before going off to rescue Leon from hordes of thirsty customers. Tifa passed him to go talk to Hayner, and Axel was surprised to see Leon and Cloud exchanging just enough words to call it a conversation, although most of it was in eyebrow lifts, shoulder shrugs, and half-glances. At the other end of the bar, Reno was sitting on a barstool next to Seifer and looking as though he was having a serious conversation for once, even if he was the only one talking.

March may be a boring month, but it had its days.

It was a little over an hour later, approaching midnight, when Axel figured he was just about done for the night. Reno was over by the door with Rude, talking and grinning about something as the two of them people-watched. Tifa was in the back room and Leon was making another drink for their new blond customer. Roxas was on the phone with someone, still in the same seat next to his friend that he'd been in earlier, while Hayner played with whatever light-colored drink was sitting in front of him.

His eyes cut over to Seifer as the blond stood up from his seat a little awkwardly, ignoring the suddenly intent gazes from all of the workers in the room. The man tugged sharply on the front of his beanie before making his way around the counter. Roxas saw him coming and darted a half-glance at Hayner, who remained oblivious, and slid off his stool to retreat so he could stay out of the conversation.

Axel took his time cleaning a glass as he kept a careful and curious eye on the two volatile blonds on his right. Seifer stood with his arms crossed severely over his chest for about three seconds before kicking the bottom of Hayner's chair to get his attention. Hayner started and scowled up at him, staring balefully with one eye before turning away. The taller blond snapped out something short, making Hayner turn, slug him in the arm, and then resume his sulking.

Seifer rolled his eyes and settled into the chair Roxas had recently vacated. Hayner continued to ignore him, but Seifer decided to disregard this fact, grabbed his chin and jerked it toward him to forcibly examine his eye. The shorter of the two fought and flailed the entire way until Seifer snatched both his wrists so he'd stop hitting him (although Hayner's depth perception was a bit off, so it wasn't as effective as it could have been), transferred them both to one hand, and went back to examining his face.

Axel tried to keep his attention as surreptitious as possible. Unobtrusively cataloguing the carefully blank look on Seifer's features. The light trail of fingers across bruised skin. A quiet question asked, uncomfortably hesitant. Hayner just stared at him, jaw clenched and eyes guarded. Observed as Seifer gently tugged Hayner forward, turned his face slightly, and pressed his mouth softly against the skin just under Hayner's left eye. Watched as Hayner's expression crumpled, not into tears, but into the hurt and frustration and pain he'd been repressing for the last hour, words pouring out of him as a released hand rose up to touch the newly forming bruise. Seifer intercepted it halfway, just a loose hand around his wrist, and silently let the other man talk. And if Hayner occasionally shoved him or took a half-hearted swing at his arm, Seifer didn't do anything about it.

Yeah, he was done for the night.

Axel quickly checked to make sure their patrons were all occupied and the coffeepot full before tracking down Tifa to tell her he was heading out. Giving Leon and the new kid a nod of goodbye, he scanned the bar for the messy-headed blond he needed to have a chat with and made his way over.

"Hey, Rox."

Roxas jerked his head up from the table he was sitting at and glanced at him, his hands playing with the drink he'd been nursing for the last few hours. "Axel. I uh, I can't stay long—I have to have enough time to get home, so—"

"Roxas," Axel interrupted shortly, dropping into the seat next to him. "I just want to talk. So chill."

The blond shifted uneasily in his chair and eyed him warily, fingers tightening around his glass.

Axel sighed. "Look, I just feel like you've been avoiding me. Have I made you uncomfortable somehow, or something?"

"No," Roxas said quickly, gaze darting to him and back to the table. "No, not…not really."

"Okay," said Axel, thinking. "So then—"

"And I'm not avoiding you," the college student pushed on, still nervous. "Or I sort of am, but I'm not…it's…not intentional. I think."

The redhead paused. "So you're unintentionally avoiding me?"

"A little," Roxas admitted.

Axel crossed his arms on the table and leaned forward. "And why is that?"

"Umm…"

He watched as Roxas floundered for a moment, his confusion building by the second. So if this wasn't about him, then was it about Roxas? He didn't remember Roxas saying or doing anything that would—oh. That. It wasn't that, was it?

"Wait a minute," Axel blurted out, propping his chin in one hand. "This isn't about what happened waaaay back in February, is it?"

Roxas flushed pink to the roots of his hair, and Axel could feel his amusement pushing at his mouth.

"Seriously? You're embarrassed about that?"

The blond bowed his head and looked away, looking as though he was calculating whether trying to flee to the nearest exit would be worth it. "No."

Axel just sat there and watched him.

"…maybe."

Axel raised an eyebrow.

"…yes?"

The redhead snorted and rolled his eyes. "You know you just caught me by surprise, right?" he replied, trying really hard to keep the smirk from his face because he knew it wouldn't make Roxas feel any better. "I wasn't judging your kissing skills—" Roxas blushed harder "—or technique, or anything."

"I just thought…" Roxas swallowed, looking up at him from under his bangs. "That you were…you know…"

"Roxas, that was the best Valentine's Day present ever," Axel retorted matter-of-factly, still wanting to smile. "That's what you were worried about? Really?"

Fiddling with the wet napkin under his drink, Roxas gave Axel a semi-reproachful glare.

With a long suffering sigh, Axel shook his head regretfully at the younger man. "Well, then I guess you'll be absolutely scandalized when I do this."

He leaned forward and kissed him before Roxas even had a chance to form a suspicious expression, thoroughly pleased with himself for taking the initiative this time, and pulled away.

Roxas stared at him.

"See? Perfectly normal," Axel proclaimed, leaning back and grinning. "The feeling of paralysis will wear off in a sec."

The blond blinked, narrowed his eyes, then leaned over and socked him in the arm. "You kissed me in public!" he hissed. Axel was starting to get accustomed to the red in his cheeks. "In a bar full of people!"

"I did," Axel agreed smugly, pointedly not glancing around. "Stage fright, Roxie?"

Roxas scowled at him, probably both at the name and the question. "It's not stage fright. I just don't do PDA."

"I do," Axel said brightly.

Roxas immediately assessed him with wariness.

He just smirked. "So, are we all better now?"

The blond cracked a small smile. "Yeah. Sorry."

"It's fine," Axel shrugged, smiling back at him. "As long as we, you know, talk about it. And I'll listen, even if it's just so we don't end up like those two." He nodded his head back over his shoulder at Seiner and Hayner, smirking. "Alright?"

"Deal." Roxas smirked back at him before glancing quickly at his watch. "I have to get going. See you soon?"

"Yeah." He clapped Roxas on the shoulder as he passed, giving him a quick grin. "You've got my number and you know where to find me."

Roxas nodded and moved past him toward the door.

Axel followed the blond with his eyes until he vanished outside. Things were definitely looking up now.

Author's Note: Yaaaaaaay, March! All done and pretty and April next. Hope you liked it. Review! Review! We really do like hearing from you, you know.


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